


a family was never made by blood alone

by rarmaster



Series: we'll always have each other (and so much more) [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, Siblings, adopted family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-09
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-07-22 11:36:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7436262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rarmaster/pseuds/rarmaster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Squall gets his hands on a letter he wasn't supposed to read, and has some questions to ask his mother.</p>
<p>((<i>a snapshot from an AU where Aerith and Leon are adopted siblings</i>))</p>
            </blockquote>





	a family was never made by blood alone

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't sure where to start my oneshots for my "Aerith and Leon are adopted siblings" AU but I figured that!!! something that explained what was up was a good place to start!!! so here's this. ((Also Leon is Squall because this is before his namechange.))
> 
> [further deets about how the AU works here.](http://rarmaster.tumblr.com/post/128271305400/anyway-shuffles-notecards-i-have-new-ftpverse)

“Mom…?”

Elmyra looked up from her cross-stitch, sticking her needle into the material so she would not lose it. She peered over her reading glasses at the boy standing before her in the dim evening light. Squall’s shoulders were hunched, and he wouldn’t look quite at her. He clutched a piece of paper tightly in his pudgy fingers—he was eight-years-old, and had not quite lost all of his baby fat.

“Is something wrong, Squall?” Elmyra asked. She set her cross-stitch on the side table next to her, so that if he wanted to, he could crawl into her lap. He didn’t move to, though. He just took a few steps more towards her.

“I found, um, this,” he said. He thrust the paper in her direction, still looking down at the floorboards. His hair hung down into his face, and that wasn’t just because he was looking down. She’d have to cut it soon.

Elmyra reached out to take the paper from him, leaning forward in her rocking chair so she could grab it. Her old bones creaked as much as the chair did, but she paid them no mind.

The paper was crumpled, so she had to smooth it out. Not that she needed to do much smoothing, actually. She just had to un-crumple it enough to see the first line of writing. Curvy, neat letters—her own handwriting. She only read the words _Dear Laguna,_ and then she squeezed her eyes shut.

“Oh, Squall…” she whispered.

She could have sworn she’d sent this letter. Did Squall get his hands on it before she did and she’d just assumed she had since she couldn’t find it? Or did he dig it out of the mailbox? Elmyra wouldn’t be surprised by either.

She folded the letter in half and set it on top of her cross-stitch. Then she pulled her glasses off her face and set those aside, as well. She just needed a few moments, to find the right words. It wasn’t like she’d meant to keep this a secret from him _forever_ , though she’d hoped to do it a few years from now, when he was older. Maybe it was for the best, though. (And maybe, she should have stopped writing letters to Laguna years ago. It wasn’t like he’d answered any of them, anyway.)

“Does this mean- does this mean you aren’t my real mom…?” Squall asked. Elmyra could not see his lip quiver, when his head was down and his hair was in his face like that, but she could hear it in his voice.

Elmyra opened her mouth, but then she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked up just in time to see Aerith duck back into the hallway. There was no doubt she’d been eavesdropping. Elmyra would wager Squall had gone to Aerith with this first, even, and of course Aerith would want to hear the outcome.

“Aerith, sweetie,” Elmyra called. “Come on out here.”

Aerith poked her head back out. She hesitated a moment, and then she started walking, quickly, to join them. The large rainboots she insisted on wearing—even inside—squeaked across the wooden floor, and the large blue bow that tied her hair back bounced as she moved.

She didn’t say anything as she took her place beside Squall. She held herself straighter than any other 9-year-old would have, her face smooth. She’d always been good at hiding what she was feeling, especially in comparison to Squall. But Elmyra knew her daughter well. She could see the worry burning in Aerith’s eyes. The uncertainty. The way her mouth was pinched together.

Elmyra took a deep breath.

“There’s something I need to tell the two of you,” she said. “I’d… I’d _hoped_ to wait until you were older, but…” Well, there was no avoiding that now. Perhaps it had been silly to hope to wait in the first place.

“Is this about- about that Laguna guy?” Squall asked, fidgeting. “About, um, my- my real parents?”

The words _my real parents_ stung, and Elmyra turned away for a moment. All she could say was an unsteady “Well, _yes…_ ” because, anything else would be a lie.

“You’ve been writing letters to him for a while,” Aerith remarked, quietly.

Elmyra sighed. She wondered if Squall had noticed, like Aerith had, but from the surprised look he sent his sister, she doubted it.  There was that at least.

“Squall, listen to me,” Elmyra said, drawing his attention back to her. She licked her lips, and then, because it was the easiest place to start: “Your mother. Raine… She was a good friend of mine. But she… she got very sick, not long after you were born.” She had to swallow, to push back the uneasy feeling in her throat. “And- and she passed away.”

Squall’s eyes went wide. He stared blankly, as his mind churned to process that. It must’ve been a lot to take in.

“And, Laguna,” Elmyra continued. She would have reached for the letter to hold it up as an example, but honestly, she did not wish to look at it right now. “Your father. He- He had to leave, before you were born.” He had to leave because someone had taken Ellone, because he had to find her, and that search had taken him to another world. But it was best to leave Ellone out of this. She did not wish to confuse Squall. “And Laguna, he… hasn’t come back.”

“Did- did he die too?” Squall asked, something of a catch in his voice. His eyes were like saucers.

“I don’t know,” Elmyra answered, truthfully. She did not _believe_ he was, but, that was just a Feeling, nothing more. “I don’t know why he hasn’t answered my letters, or why he hasn’t returned. I don’t know if he _will_ return.”

“So that’s why…” Squall began.

“That’s why I’ve been looking after you, yes,” Elmyra finished. She smiled warmly at him, hoping he would see the love she held for him in her eyes.

“I guess…” Aerith spoke up, her voice like a whisper. “You aren’t my real mom either… huh?” Her face was still smooth, and for once, Elmyra could not read the look in her eyes.

“No,” Elmyra said, with a heavy heart. She did not know even half as much about Aerith’s mother as she knew about Squall’s. And she wasn’t sure where to begin in recounting the tale of the young woman—a girl, really—who’d shown up on her doorstep, dying, more terrified for her child than for herself. “But, listen…”

“Does- does that mean we’re not real brother ‘n sister, too?” Squall interrupted. He was trembling, and looked about to cry, if he had not started already. Aerith sent a worried glance at him, reaching out to knot her fingers through his.

“No, it doesn’t,” Elmyra told them warmly. She leaned forward in her rocking chair, bending down so she was eye-level with them. “Listen: I may not have given birth to either of you, but I raised you, didn’t I? I’ve fed you and take care of you all these years. I’ve laughed with you, I’ve cried with you, I’ve done everything that any other parent would have done.”

Aerith scowled as she considered. Squall fidgeted again. They both looked uncertain, but, perhaps, a little more at ease.

“Listen to me, _really_ listen to me,” Elmyra said. She did not continue until they were both looking at her. “We may not be related by blood, but that doesn’t make me any less your mother, and that doesn’t make you any less my children.

“Aerith. Squall…” She looked between the two of them. “You may not be related to each other by blood either, but that doesn’t matter. You are still brother and sister. We are still a family, because it’s not blood that’s important. All that’s important is that we love each other. Do you understand?”

They exchanged glances again, then looked at her. Squall still looked like he was unsure, but Aerith’s eyes glittered with determination. She nodded. A second later, Squall did too.

“Good.” Elmyra smiled at them. “Never forget that.”

“We won’t,” they chimed, in unison.

(And they never did.)


End file.
